The subject matter disclosed herein relates to electrical power distribution systems and more particularly to systems and methods for selecting bell weather smart grid meters.
In an electrical power distribution network, a smart grid delivers electricity from suppliers to consumers using two-way communications to control smart grid appliances at consumers' homes, which allows the utility to control the smart grid appliances (e.g., at peak times) and in return gives the consumer some benefit such as reduced rates. The smart grid is a part of the power distribution network and can include smart meters, which record power consumption at time intervals and communicates the information back to the utility for monitoring and billing purposes. Smart meters enable the two-way communication between the meter and the central system. Smart meters can gather data for remote reporting. The utility selects certain smart meters as representative (or bellwether) meters for areas in the smart grid to pre-determine power distribution behavior in the area (e.g., anticipation of power outages). As such, bellwether meters provide an overall reading of the health of the area in the power grid. Typically, bellwether meters are subjectively and manually selected by humans. As such a list of bellwether smart grid meters are currently selected by hand. The list may need to be changed on a daily/seasonal load profile basis, or as the utility's grid changes over time. The hand-selection process typically occurs at random times of the calendar year, if the utility does indeed update their list of bellwether meters. Therefore, the selection of bellwether meters in this manner can overemphasize areas that are not problematic and overlook areas that are developing a power distribution problem.